Olo'eyktan
by Kraven Ergeist
Summary: The story of Jake and Neytiri after the movie. Jake is Olo'eyktan, and is responsible for the Omaticaya now. But Jake's dreams have returned and they bring troubling tidings. What fate does Eywa have in store for him and Neytiri? Jake x Neytiri


**Avatar Fan Fiction**

**Olo'eyktan**

By Kraven Ergeist

The dreams came again shortly after the war. It was just like before, on Earth. Only this time, he knew the forest through which he flew. He had flown between those very branches, soared over that same mountain. He knew these trees, these hills, these valleys through which his dreams took him. And somehow, he knew that those same leaves dotted the dreams of his other self that he had left behind on Earth. Somehow, his dreams had taken him light years across the galaxy to Pandora, years before he had ever actually set foot on their soil. Who was this Eywa who could command fate across the far reaches of space? Had she lived on Earth as she had on Pandora? Had the Sky People simply been deaf to her voice?

The Dream Walkers were said to be figments of young Na'vi's imaginations, bogeymen who came in the night to steal away misbehaved children and feed them to the Palulukan (what the Sky People referred to as a Thanator). When the Sky People arrived, and came with strange bodies that were Na'vi, but weren't, the Omaticaya had no other word to describe them than Dream Walkers, creatures out of nightmare. Where else could these strange Na'vi with ten fingers and toes, small eyes, eyebrows, and oddly shaped frames, their shoulders broader and chests thicker? Creatures of pure fantasy, surely. Yet there they walked, sure as the sun rose or the rains fell.

Yet somehow, one Sky Person was called upon from across the stars to inhabit a Dream Walker body and make it his own, to tame the giant Toruk and become its Makto, to mate with the daughter of the Omaticaya Olo'eyktan and future Tsahik, Neytiri, and eventually rise up to claim the mantle of Olo'eyktan himself. Had Jake known about the destiny that awaited him, he would not have believed it. That would have been a dream walk unto itself. Yet there he lay, amidst a dream in his own Na'vi body, breathing and living as leader and one of the Omaticaya.

But what plagued him now was not the responsibility of looking after his people. Eywa took and gave what she willed. It was not the fact that his people, though capable of living in the forest surrounding the Tree of Souls, were still without a home. It was not even the pressures of sharing his life and his love with Neytiri, although to be fair, she offered him her share of challenges. She would hardly be the woman he had fallen in love with if she hadn't.

No, what plagued him were these dreams. What did they mean? Was Eywa speaking to him through his dreams? The last time he had these dreams, he started on a journey that changed his life forever. For the better, all things considered, but all change is tumultuous. And yet, here he lay, asleep in Neytiri's arms, and visions of a flight that would not leave him alone. It was going on a fortnight now, and still not a night passed when he did not make this journey through the trees in his mind, causing him to wake the next morning exhausted. He had consulted Neytiri and Mo'at as to its possible meaning. He had communed with Eywa through the Tree of Souls, and received only the same spiritual ringing he had received dozens of times before. He could discern nothing.

What did it mean?

xxxxx

Neytiri woke that morning feeling cold. The usual warmth of her life mate that she had readily become accustomed to was not there. He was probably on some kind of trivial task, the logical part of her mind reasoned with her; go back to sleep. But her heart could only wonder… What had driven her lover from sleep? Was he safe and whole? Even if it was some idle task that needed his attention as Olo'Eyktan, or his own nerves that kept his body stirring, such tidings did not speak well for his health, physical or otherwise.

The hammock of the Olo'eyktan and his mate was larger than most of the others, though this was mostly due to the fact that they were expected to have children in the coming years, it was still the most private out of all of them, living out in the open as they were. Though this fact was all but moot for Neytiri. For one, a Na'vi being open in their taking to their lover was not a taboo as she understood the Sky People saw it, and a Na'vi's deepest connection to each other, and to Eywa, apart from their own birth and death. An Olo'eyktan was no expectation, and if anything, he was to set an example to his people, for mating was a celebrated, life giving ritual that kept the circle of life in motion.

For another, it was not as if the act was not evident enough in the aromas that they each wore that lingered for days at a time to a Na'vi's sensitive nose. Neytiri's late and ex-fiancé, Tsu'tey, had noticed it the day after their first coupling before the two had even gotten to within speaking distance of him. Certainly it was no mystery to the Omaticaya as to what their clan leader and his wife did within the late hours of the night. Still, Jake seemed to like the privacy – a lingering Sky People tendency that Neytiri was sure would fade in time, and wasn't all to great a hindrance in the meantime, especially considering that his position allowed him just the privacy that he liked.

Neytiri crawled from the widespread weave of hemp-like rope woven from the tall grasses and shoots by the river. She sniffed the air, trying to find a trace of her husband, but there was none apart from the ambient scent markers that lingered on all of their belongings, the few that could be kept within the woods surrounding the Tree of Souls where the Omaticaya remained. Though the tree was a sacred icon that embodied everything they lived for, it still felt like a guesthouse, a shelter provided by one who would aid in a time of need, but eventually turn you back out once you had healed. Like returning home to your parents' home after withstanding some substantial upset. They could not stay there forever.

"Jake?"

Neytiri called out her husband and clan leader's name. She could see the beginnings of dawn cresting the horizon, as many Na'vi were already awake and moving about, though only the dedicated hunters were out and about by this hour, unless they had remained in the woods overnight. In time, Neytiri and eventually Jake too would join the hunt, but for the time being, they had other responsibilities to fulfill.

Neytiri turned her sights towards the Ikran roost, a series of short trees growing from a rock outcropping where the tamed banshees nested and slumbered throughout the night. Neytiri made her way towards them, trying diligently not to wake them – Ikran were grouchy when woken unexpectedly without either their bonded rider or a snack waiting for them.

She saw the absence of Jake's Ikran before she even reached the area where one would mount him, and felt a pang of remorse as her first inclination was to fly after him, followed by the realization that Seze was dead, and that she was grounded. Of course, Ikran did die, and often before their rider, so it was not unheard of for a Makto to choose another Ikran. But it was a ritualistic process that would require her to leave her people by themselves for at least a day, and Neytiri simply did not have time for that. Besides, nothing in the sky could ever replace Seze in her heart.

She heard a rustling as some of the Ikrans began to stir awake, and begun nipping each other as they inadvertently woke one another. Soon, almost the entire roost was alive with annoyed chirping and fluttering wings, and many Ikran took off to find a less populated place to resume their slumber. Neytiri nimbly avoided getting clipped in the jaw by one Ikran's flapping hooked wing, and dropped down through the branches to the rock face below, landing and taking off into a jog up the hillside to get a good vantage point for the brightening sunrise.

A prayer left her lips as she thanked Eywa for the beauty the sun gave her and her people on this morning, and sat on her haunches to enjoy the view. No sooner had she relaxed, than she saw a pair of flapping wings hidden by the glare of the sun. Neytiri squinted to see, and sure enough, it was Jake, riding in on his banshee.

Neytiri stood and waved her arm so that he could see her. She saw the Ikran's wingtips seesaw in a fashion that Jake would attribute to something called the Air Force, but Neytiri simply saw it for the response to her wave that it was.

She took a step back, allowing him room to land his large mount. It flapped its great wings several times, slowing its descent and hovering until its feet touched down on the rocky hilltop over the Ikran roost, folding its massive wings as Jake jumped down from its back.

"Neytiri!" he shouted with more exuberance than she was used to these days. The enthusiastic embrace he pulled her into also contributed, though she certainly did not mind either, as she returned the heartfelt embrace.

"Good morning to you too, Jake!" she gasped as he practically squeezed the air out of her lungs. His words were mostly Na'vi nowadays, with an occasional query to a more advanced word in English that he had not yet learned. "Giving Tir's wings an early stretch today, I see."

Tir was the name Jake had given to his Ikran. It meant Sail in Na'vi language, though Jake had consulted Tir about the name, and she had liked the sound of it without caring much for the meaning.

"Neytiri…" Jake's heart was pounding in excitement, though about what, Neytiri could not fathom. "You have to come with me! I've made a discovery!"

Neytiri blinked in surprise for a moment at Jake's fervor. "What have you discovered?"

Jake shook his head impatiently. "Just climb on. You have to see this for yourself."

Neytiri hesitated, staring up at the fierce looking purple and blue Ikran. "But…Tir would not allow me to ride her…would she?"

Jake nodded, sweat beading down his temples. "I asked her. She agreed. Now come!" he jumped back onto Tir's back, forming a smooth Tsaheylu and offered his hand to his mate. "You won't believe what I've found!"

Neyitir finally gave in and against her better judgment took his hand as he hoisted her up on to Tir's back behind him. Tir buckled slightly under the added weight. Neytiri had to wrap her legs around Jake's and place her feet on top of his to support herself.

"This…is rather awkward, Jake…" Neytiri said, looking nervously at the ground. "No Ikran has ever flown more than one rider before. Are you sure this can't wait? I could journey to the Thundering Rocks and perform the ritual of Iknimaya tomorrow, and take my own Ikran to fly with you."

Tir wobbled slightly as she rear up on her hind legs and spread her wings.

"That's not something you should rush, Neytiri," Jake shook his head. "This is. Besides, Tir's strong, right Tir?"

Tir answered with a fierce cry that reflected a confidence that Neytiri did not feel herself.

"If you say so, Jake…" Neytiri nodded, sliding her arms around his waist, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I trust you…"

"I know…" Jake smiled kindly back at her, before returning his attention to the front. "Yah!"

With two great flaps, Tir's feet left the rock face, and she tipped forward, allowing gravity to send her sailing down the currents of air, picking up speed, before using her momentum to take off higher. It was slow going, and Tir had to flap twice as hard to stay aloft. But female Ikran were larger than males, a necessary trait for laying eggs, and Tir was a strong and healthy bird.

Still, she wobbled unevenly as air currents hit in ways that she wouldn't have with Jake alone. Dismay flowed across the bond with Jake, as Tir gave thought to this concern.

Jake understood her meaning.

"Tir can't balance a rider without Tsaheylu, Neytiri," Jake voiced the Ikran's concern, offering her unoccupied queue to Neytiri.

Neytiri's eyes widened. He couldn't mean for her to…? "Oh, no, Jake…that is going too far…"

"Tir wishes it, Neytiri…" Jake smiled confidently. "I wish it."

Neytiri took a deep breath. This was an invasion of privacy that even mated pairs did not break. "Very well, Jake…if it must be so…"

Nervously, Neytiri took hold of Tir's antennae-like queue and brought her own braid around to bond with it. As the filaments at the ends of each attached to one another, Neytiri's mind was flooded with sensations that were both familiar and strange to her. Familiar, in that it was an Ikran, and she had rode for years before Seze's noble death – a feeling that brought a tear to her eye - and strange in that this was another Na'vi's bonded Ikran.

It felt…wrong to her sensibilities.

But she felt no resistance from Tir, no feeling of invasion or offense. And then she felt why. It was Jake! She was feeling Jake _through_ Tir! He was bonded to her along her other queue, and while his thoughts and feelings were masked through the mind of another creature, she could feel his love. Na'vi mating involved forming Tsaheylu with one another, so naturally she knew what Taheylu with Jake felt like. This was similar…but before that familiar feeling of being with Jake, she felt something similar within Tir.

Tir _trusted_ her.

Tir trusted and cared for her just as much as she trusted and cared for Jake. Wild Ikran didn't develop such feelings for any but other Ikran, but once bonded, they naturally grew attached to their riders. But this was the first time she had seen evidence of a rider's love for another Na'vi bleeding so completely into their bonded Ikran that the great bird trusted the mate of the rider as much as the rider itself.

"I never imagined…" Neytiri breathed, eyes fluttering.

"Has this ever been attempted before?" Jake asked, looking more exuberant. The meld must have had a similar effect on him.

"No…but, Jake, this is…" Neytiri closed her eyes, running her hand down Tir's neck. The great bird crooned, arching her neck to allow her to continue. Jake hummed as Tir's happiness bled over to him through the meld. "This is unbelievable…"

Jake nodded. "Tir and I were toying with the idea for some time now. I know how much you miss Seze, and I was worried you wouldn't be ready to move on…"

Neytiri scratched behind Tir's ears. "It's not that…it's just…"

Neytiri's seized Jake's shoulder as she felt Jake's intention to descend, and Tir's muscles adjusting in preparation. Moments later, the three of them aligned their bodies as one, and dove down through the trees, their combined weight making them faster than any other Ikran. At the last moment, Tir unfolded her wings and her two riders straightened their bodies to allow for greater wind resistance, as Tir snapped up and swooped back up into the air.

Neytiri let out a laugh as she felt both Tir and Jake's joy overwhelm her.

"This is amazing!"

Jake smiled and looked off towards the trees off into the distance.

"I'm sorry I left so early this morning," Jake said, finally explaining himself. "I believe Eywa has been giving me these dreams for a reason. So I followed them…"

Neytiri blinked. "Followed?"

"I recognize the trees that my dreams took me through. They belong to these woods. And so I followed them…" Jake pointed off in the direction he had been peering. "Look over there, Neytiri…what do you see?"

Neytiri craned her neck and peered off into the distance. She saw only trees, though there was a strange…bulge, almost, as though the canopy were a level, flat surface surrounding a patch of larger trees.

"What is that?"

She could feel Jake's joy through the meld as he urged Tir to fly them closer.

"Take a closer look…"

They neared the bulge, and Neytiri blinked, as what she thought had been several trees was only one. One massive tree. One massive tree growing from its hiding place within the edge of the forest surrounding the Tree of Souls.

Neytiri's heart might've stopped. "Oh, Jake…" she seized his shoulders in disbelief. "Jake!"

There in the middle of the forest, undiscovered by any other Na'vi until now, grew the massive trunk of a Hometree.


End file.
